Aizawl: Mizoram govt is setting up a Rs 20.63-crore poultry farm with a capacity to rear at least 1 lakh hens at Thenzawl in Serchhip district as part of efforts to make the state self-sufficient in egg production, animal husbandry and veterinary minister C Lalsawivunga said on Monday.The proposed facility is expected to produce between 70,000 and 75,000 eggs a day, the minister said while addressing workers of the ruling Zoram People’s Movement (ZPM) at the party office in Aizawl. He said the govt was working towards increasing the state’s production of eggs, milk and meat.Lalsawivunga said a livestock insurance scheme had been introduced to provide relief to farmers who suffered losses, including those caused by outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF). Since the scheme was introduced in February, 4,724 pigs, cattle and goats had been insured and claims amounting to Rs 41.1 lakh settled, he said.The minister said mixed contract farming of maize and soybean had been taken up in 11 villages across Champhai and Khawzawl districts to increase the availability of animal feed. A total of 529 farmers were participating in the initiative, he added.The govt had distributed 4,428 kg of maize seeds and 2,184 kg of soybean seeds under the programme, Lalsawivunga said.A Rs 2.11-crore feed-manufacturing project was also being implemented at the veterinary farm in Thenzawl, while another fodder project worth Rs 62 lakh had been taken up at Hnahlan in Champhai district, he said.The govt was also planning large-scale fodder cultivation at Hortoki in Kolasib district, along the Bairabi-Sairang railway line near the Assam border, the minister added.
